Always Two, There Are
by triojediknights
Summary: "It swelled Rey's heart to know that she wasn't alone. She had always figured she would not be, at least someday, but to share this gift with a person whom she cared for deeply warmed her soul..." This idea would not leave me alone - a new Force sensitive, and a couple that I don't exactly ship! Even so, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: The First Volunteer

**Chapter 1: First Volunteer**

Rey sat in the captain's quarters of the _Millennium Falcon_ , studying the broken pieces of the Skywalker saber. She ignored, for the present, how the must in the air still soothingly smelled of the roguish Han Solo, and instead tried to focus on the problem in front of her. If she was going to be a Jedi, she needed a Jedi's weapon. But as far as she could tell, no mechanic's tools could repair this lightsaber. And she had tried with every tool she knew about, a lifetime of scavenging and repairing knowledge. Only recently, with C-3PO's help (he was fluent in over 4,000 dialects), had Rey come to understand the beginnings of the Jedi texts. This blade could only be repaired with the help of the Force... the Force she was still only just starting to understand.

And that didn't even account for the blue kyber crystal being cracked down the middle. How was she supposed to mend a precious stone?

The durasteel door hissed open, and she smiled with affection as Finn walked in. Her oldest and dearest friend had been a great source of comfort for her in the weeks since Crait, and distracted her well from mourning thoughts of... Ben...

"Hey, Little Miss Jedi," Finn smiled. "How's the saber coming?"

Rey huffed tiredly. "It's coming." From the tone of her voice, she knew Finn could tell that meant it wasn't coming at all. He held out his hand, palm up.

"Let me take a look at it. Poe's been teaching me a few handyman tricks."

As if on cue, the saber rose out of Rey's lap and flew into Finn's waiting hand.

Scavenger and former Stormtrooper stared at each other in amazement. Finn spluttered like a fish. "Did I just... how...?"

Rey was the first to recover, beaming with pride. "Finn, do you know what this means?" and her breath went down to a whisper. "You have the Force!" It swelled Rey's heart to know that she wasn't alone. She had always figured she would not be, at least someday, but to share this gift with a person whom she cared for deeply warmed her soul. Her grin now widened. "And you know, I am going to have to rebuild the Jedi Order, if we want a chance against Kylo Ren..."

Finn straightened, throwing his shoulders back, as if that might make his candidacy more presentable. "Then I am your first volunteer!"

* * *

Rey and Finn spent the rest of that day in Han's former quarters, poring over the Jedi texts and Rey giving Finn rudimentary lessons in the Force. Poe Dameron poked his head in at one point, to give them an updated report on Rose Tico's health, but after that knew enough not to disturb them.

Before either potential Jedi knew it, they were struggling to keep their eyes open. It was time for bed.

Finn rose from the mattress, trying to remain perky about the new development in his life. "I can't wait for tomorrow - a new day of training!" He started when he felt his friend take his hand.

Rey was all at once overcome with fear at his leaving. She had spent many sleepless nights dreaming of Ben, mourning him, and having nightmares about Kylo Ren. And in any event, she had missed Finn in the few days she had been away with Luke Skywalker on Ahch-To, when her friend had been unconscious and injured. "Finny..." an affectionate nickname she had taken to using with him since their reunion on Crait. "... will you stay with me tonight?"

Finn blinked before smiling gently at her. He would do anything for Rey. "Of course." The pair prepared for bed, Finn removing his tunic, his back to her. He really didn't think much of it until he heard Rey gasp behind him.

"He got you bad, didn't he?"

Finn swiveled around, craning his neck over his shoulder to get a look at the fiery, angry scar running parallel to his spine, in the mirror on the refresher door. "It doesn't feel as bad as it looks, if that makes any sense."

Already in her simple nightdress, Rey shifted on the bed, listening curiously. "Really?"

"Yeah," Finn took a place beside her. "The bacta tank did a really good job healing it. And surprisingly quickly too, considering they had to haul my unconscious ass along in the evacuation off D'Qar."

Rey tentatively reached for him, then retracted her hand; her cheeks burned. "Can I...?"

Finn frowned. "You mean can you...?"

His skin tingled as Rey danced her fingers lightly over the scar. All the while, the pair's gazes remained locked, Rey very gentle in how she touched him. The gesture was tender, and for them, unusually intimate. Finally, Rey turned away.

"Let's go to bed," she murmured quietly. She and Finn climbed under the down comforter.

It was not previously spoken of. Rey and Finn platonically held each other in the darkness, each with their own nightmares to hold at bay, but only with someone else's help.

"Goodnight, Rey," Finn's voice rumbled into the darkness.

"Goodnight," she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2: The Caves of Ilum

**Chapter 2: The Caves of Ilum**

The flecks of powder blasted what little of Rey's face was not covered by a heavy parka, as she stepped off the gangplank of the _Falcon_. Behind her, Finn whistled, discouraged.

"You sure about this?" he roared over the howling of the wind.

"No! Let's go!" Rey shouted behind her.

The two growing Jedi sloshed and hoofed through the high snow drifts to the sheer cliff face with gaping, foreboding, uninviting holes carved into the rock. Approaching the largest entrance at ground level, Finn and Rey looked to each other. Holding out her hand, Rey let Finn give it an encouraging squeeze, before the friends bravely marched inside.

The Caves of Ilum were mentioned extensively in the Jedi texts. According to C-3PO's translations, the rocky hideaways on this icy world used to be where Jedi Padawans of the pre-Empire Republic would go to find their lightsaber crystals. Many even finished construction of their lightsabers completely within these icy walls.

It was much quieter once Finn and Rey got through the first passageway. Navigating the tunnels, emerging into each new cavern, Rey felt the temperature drop further and further. Her breath came out in a puff of grey air, and she sometimes wondered if that very breath would not freeze, crystallize instantaneously, so cold did it get in here.

Most of the walls were covered floor-to-ceiling in ice, not rock, distorting Finn's and Rey's every feature - sometimes with comic results, but more times not. Even worse, both could feel the Force singing in here with a strength neither of them had encountered before. It seeped into their very bones and skin, overtook all their senses. It seemed that the energy field was playing tricks on them, on their minds.

For example, at one point, Rey thought she saw the apparitions of two men - one young and with long hair. He looked just as handsome as Ben, if not just as strong. The ghostly figure was bent over a much older man, who now passed the decrepit hilt of a lightsaber to his younger compatriot:

 _"We didn't think any other Jedi survived."_

 _"We?"_

 _"Fy-Tor-Ana. She went to look for others at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She never... made it back..."_

Rey gasped, the Force giving her understanding. "Order 66," she breathed.

"Hmm?" Finn sounded jumpy, almost panicky, at hearing her voice after walking in unnerving silence for so long. "What did you say?"

"There were Jedi survivors who hid in here after Darth Vader and the Empire rose to power."

"Can't imagine why any damn fool Jedi would," Finn harrumphed grumpily, his teeth chattering from both chill and a barely suppressed terror. "Actually, I can. What idiot would want to follow some fugitive Jedi into here? Not even Darth Vader would be that stupid!"

"My grandfather was the most brilliant tactician of his time!" an enraged, offended voice boomed suddenly, from seemingly all around them.

Rey and Finn yelped and clutched at each other in fright, their eyes darting around wildly. Her gaze darting into the one corner, Rey noticed that the vision she had seen of the two Jedi outlaws was gone. Whipping her head back around, however, she quickly realized that another apparition had taken its place. She and Finn were still not alone.

The masked figure of Kylo Ren stood before them, his entire body clenched under muscles brimming with anger. Both Finn and Rey could feel the rage rolling off of him in ways, and they expected for him to attack them at any moment.

The Supreme Leader of the First Order directed his wrath first to the fiesty scavenger. "Rey, why did you leave? Did you fear what I would become? I offered you _everything_!"

"Rey, what is he talking about?" Finn squeaked. In any other moment, Rey might have laughed at the unnatural register his voice reached, but she did not want to begin to explain the mysterious connection she and Kylo Ren shared, so she chose to ignore her friend's bafflement.

In the interim, Kylo rounded on Finn:

"And you, FN-2187! The traitor! Think the life of a Jedi is better than that of a stormtrooper, do you? You handled my grandfather's blade like it was a child's plaything! You will never be worthy enough to kiss his boots! I beat you in a rout on Starkiller... killing you will be oh so easy when we meet again..."

Kylo Ren's berating of him stirred a boiling volcano of righteous fury within Finn. "I am not a traitor! I only did what I thought was right!"

"Yes!" Rey blasted out in Finn's defense. And she had not even gotten to confronting her own emotions regarding the dark side spirit before them. "Finn is decent, and loving, and true to his friends. But more importantly, true to himself! Can you say the same, _Ben_? Oh, that's right - you can't! Power is all you care about! And here I thought... I thought..." Her throat unexpectedly clogged up with tears, but the Force helped her finish the last part of her statement:

 _And here I thought you were worth saving_.

With a frustrated growl, the ghost of Kylo Ren faded away on the icy, snowy wind. Behind him, was revealed a glassy cliff face, flawless without a single chip in the ice.

Except for one groove about fifteen feet above Rey and Finn's heads, where, they noted, refractions of purple and yellow light glowed.

An understanding smile broke across Rey's face like the sun. "The kyber crystals." She turned to Finn. "I'll get them. I'm a better climber than you."

Finn blinked, about to retort, but he let the matter drop, smiling in amusement (even if he felt his bones primed with concern) as Rey bravely Force-leapt up the cliff face, and snatched the kyber crystals.

She landed gracefully. Of seemingly its own accord, the yellow crystal floated out of her palm and drifted towards its master, Finn. Finn let the glowing diamond settle into his hand, staring at it in abject wonder. Closing his fingers around it, he smiled.

* * *

Rey and Finn made their way back out of the cave laughing and even crying joyfully. They were not even bothered by the howling blizzard outside as they seemed to float on air back to the _Falcon_. They were still chuckling and giggling as they raced up the gangplank, basking in the freighter's warmth.

"Did you see his face... when you said you weren't...?" Rey chortled, holding her side.

All at once, Finn pulled Rey close and pressed his lips to hers in a deep kiss.

The gasp of surprise died in Rey's throat. She didn't know what to do or how to respond at first. But then... she _moaned_. Almost no thought was given as her hands suddenly fisted the fabric of his tunic and she closed her eyes, deepening the kiss. Kissing him back.

Triumphant, delirious, Rey leapt into Finn's arms. Holding her close, he spun her about, even as the pair stumbled back into Han's quarters, kissing furiously. Finn threw Rey down on the bed and only now did his motions become calmer, as he gallantly mounted her waifish form.

Rey's pupils, wide and blackened with lust, faded only slightly as she murmured, suddenly self-conscious: "I've never... I'm... virgin..." She flushed pink.

Finn soothed her with a tender smile. "Me too."

This made Rey let out a shaky giggle of a laugh. "Really?" Even she had to admit - her dear friend was quite handsome.

Finn smirked. "Sexual education wasn't exactly part of a Stormtrooper's curriculum. And female stormtroopers were not allowed to enlist or be recruited."

Rey grinned impishly, biting her lip. "Those sexist pigs! Poor Finny..." she crooned. Finn silenced her with a soft, lingering kiss. Rey kissed him back happily as their limbs wound about each other, tearing at each other's clothes. The parkas fell away, unneeded as the room seemed to heat by several degrees without them. Undoing her bra and shedding her panties, Finn hovered himself over the petals of Rey's sex. Taking the budding nipple from her left breast into his mouth, he submerged himself into her warm, wet womanhood, and the two Jedi began to make love...

...Unaware of the invisible intruder watching them consummate their love. Willed into his father's domain, summoned by the Force Bond for the first time in weeks, Kylo Ren eagerly prepared to engage Rey...

Only to find her wrapped in the arms of FN-2187, her digits fisting the sheets, her porcelain skin glistening with sweat, her toes curling as she - wide-eyed - urged Finn on in a shaky, airy, breath:

"Oh... OHHHH... Oh, yes... oh... oh my goodness... Finny, yes! Just like that! More... make love to me... _please_..." She nearly sobbed the words, tears pricking at her eyes with how wonderful it felt.

The burning sight of the black ram tupping _his_ white ewe made Kylo fall to his knees. Unseen by either of the Jedi in love, these two animals in heat, the Supreme Leader moaned his anguished pain:

"I gave you my powers, made your soul take wing! And now how you've repaid me! Denied me and betrayed me! Rey..." He broke down, tears flowing down his cheeks, the salt of which quickly burned hot with a new anger and jealousy as he heard the couple laughing and moaning with pleasure.

* * *

With her purple kyber crystal, Rey completed repairing the Skywalker lightsaber. She even tinkered with it so that the purple blade came out both ends, to make the weapon more her own. Rey had observed via old holograms of General Leia's that there had once been a Sith who had a double bladed lightsaber of red. She thought the design would make her look more fierce, in the battle against Kylo Ren that was sure to come.

Gifting Finn with Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber, the one she had found amongst his belongings in a search of the island, while the Resistance was fleeing Crait, the former Stormtrooper added his yellow crystal's contribution. He too now possessed a double bladed lightsaber - one blade yellow, the other green. Thus, Finn became Rey's Padawan apprentice.

And, it turns out, that was not all he would become for her.

When Finn first proposed marriage to her, Rey had been quite surprised. Even after they had made love, slept together in the _Falcon_ , seeing him as something more than a friend was exhilarating, scary and new. Still, she happily accepted, wanting to be with someone who truly cared for her. Who would sacrifice (and had sacrificed) just about everything for her.

The Resistance viewed the upcoming wedding as a perfect morale booster. When informed by Rey that there weren't exactly any marriage traditions for Jedi, Poe gave himself free reign to design the celebration as the couple wanted. He even appointed himself as the emissary who would escort Rey, the bride, down the aisle.

Indeed, when Rey approached the General in her bridal gown, she admitted that he looked quite dashing. Poe gave her a winning smile.

"Madame Jedi: may I have the pleasure?" and he presented her with a flourishing bow. Rey giggled and did her best at a curtsey.

"Of course you may, General!" Poe escorted her across the hangar bay, packed with Resistance fighters, Chewbacca, and the droids. Poe passed Rey off to Finn proudly at the altar, and the holy man blessed the couple. Finn beamed down at her as if she was the reason stars shone. Rey shyly smiled back.

As the holy man pronounced the last two surviving Jedi husband and wife, Rey happened to glance over her groom's shoulder. Her eyes went wide with fear, and her blood ran cold, at the pain and emotional torment sent back at her.

"What is it?" Finn asked, reading her distress and glancing over his shoulder, only to discover that empty air was behind him.

Rey beamed nervously at him. "Nothing," she soothed. And she let Finn lift her veil and give her the most dreamy kiss imaginable.

Only noticed by her, invisible to all others, Kylo Ren screamed his ire for the bride and the whole of the heavens to hear:

"You will _curse_ the day you did not do all that Ben Solo asked of you!"


	3. Chapter 3: All Are Punished

**Chapter 3: All Are Punished**

The heat of the lightsaber blades crackling made the hair on Rey's skin stand on end. She ducked another vicious swing from Kylo Ren, all the while dancing around the igneous rock to avoid red-hot shots of lava spewing forth from Mustafar's earth. In the brief moment of respite before her purple blades again met Kylo's sputtering crimson ones, she threw out her love and concern to her husband through the Force. Smiling with pride, relishing the fight, she could sense he was holding his own, getting a slice in on the Supreme Leader's black tunic, even if the Dark-side user's girth blocked her view of the man she married. Taking advantage of the attack, she swung her one purple blade upward, cutting deep past the fabric and to the skin, slicing Kylo Ren's chest as he turned to face her. He stumbled back in shock, allowing a yellow blade to pierce his abdomen and further the wound.

As Kylo collapsed to the ground, Rey and Finn wildly swung on their follow-throughs, so it was their blades which now crossed. Pausing, panting, realizing they had won, the two Jedi pulled each other close and shared a passionate kiss of relief, their lightsaber blades limp at their sides. They grew lost in their own world, even as the volcanoes and magma exploded around them.

After several moments, Rey and Finn broke apart to the sound of gurgling and labored breaths. Kylo Ren was lying prone on the blackened earth, struggling to stand and failing.

The anger, the exertion from the battle and yes, even the hatred she felt for this man faded away from Rey's conscience. All that remained was pity for him. Sorrow for what she and he could have been, if only their ideologies could have been relinquished just a little. Gliding to him, Rey knelt by Kylo, no... _Ben's_ side. Gathering him close, she cradled his head in her lap, a single tear falling onto his upturned face.

"Rey..." Ben hissed through the pain. "I'm sorry. I wish... I had let myself go with you. You were my new dream."

Rey clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle the sob. And even though her husband was standing right there, she confessed, "And you were mine." With tender forgiveness, knowing he was dying, Rey bent over Ben and softly kissed his lips.

"I forgive you! And I do love you! Go in peace."

Smiling in contentment, Ben Solo died in Rey's arms.

Pain. Agonizing pain ripped through the Force around Rey, as she felt their Bond being torn asunder at Ben's passing. She all at once felt rudderless, incomplete, physically ill and weak. Keeling over on her side, struggling to get air, Rey lay beside Ben. She felt as if her body was being burned alive, as if a thousand lightsaber blades were piercing her. Her eyes glazed over as one thought entered her mind: _I am dying..._

"REY! No, no... Rey... please, Rey..." She could feel Finn gathering her form into his embrace, begging her to stay with him. Rey could only smile resignedly.

"I love you, Finny... when I am gone, you will be the Last of the Jedi. Find an apprentice, many apprentices, and pass on... what you have learned..." With her last breath, Rey got out, "I love you..."

And then she expired, becoming one with the Force as Finn's screams of anguish were heard over the roar of the volcanic eruptions.

* * *

The whole tragic story came out upon the discovery of Rey's journals, in which she had detailed the Force Bond with Ben Solo. Her attempts to turn him back to the Light. The hopeless love she felt for him, despite it all - even when it manifested in anger, frustration, betrayal, even contempt.

In a final act of devotion, Finn requested of Poe Dameron that the lovers Ben Solo and Rey of Jakku be buried together, on the cliff sides of Ahch-To's single island. The General stood over the coffin where Rey and Ben's bodies were nestled together, as they would remain for all eternity. Poe's gaze was hard and solemn and final, matching the rumblings of the overhead storm clouds, as he addressed Resistance fighters and surrendered First Order operatives alike:

"See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! And I, for winking at your discords too, have lost a brace of kinsmen. All are punished... ALL ARE PUNISHED!"

His face covered by a hood and cloak, Finn gazed stoically down at his wife and her first true love, as the thunder rolled ominously. He would take up the mantle of Rey, and Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda and rebuild the legacy of the Jedi.

And this time, it would stay healthy and thriving and never be close to extinction again. That vow, that hope, rested with the young boy at his side.

Temiri Blagg dared to peer up into his new Master's face. "What will happen to me now, Master Finn?"

Finn regarded his new charge solemnly. "I will train you. You will be a Jedi. I promise."


End file.
